Chain-stitch shoe-sewing machine.



3 SHEETSSHEET 1. 2

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

RENEWED JUNE 1, 1910.

H. A. BALLARD. CHAIN STITCH SHOE SEWING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 1905. 1, 1 1 7,304.

SHEET 2 v H. A. BALLARD; CHAIN STITCH SHOE SEWING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 1111114, 1905. RENEWED-JUNE 1, 1910.

Patented Nov 3 SHEETS 6073(51633635 mam/G? whee.

H. A. BALLARD. CHAIN STITCH SHOE SEWING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN.24,1905. RENEWED JUNE 1,1910. 1, 1 1 7,304.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

3 SHEETS*SHEET 3.

lllll IL CL Wesses: dam 0mm AMM UNITED STATES PATENT onnion..." T

BARBIE A. BALLARD, OF ASHLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE BOYLSTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHU-i SETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY. 1

CHAIN-STITCH SHOE-SEWTNG MACHINE.-

Speeification of Letters Patent.

' Patente'ol Nov. 17, 1914.

Application filed January 24, 1905, Serial No. 242,489. Renewed June 1, 1910'. Serial no. 564,456.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRIE A. BALLARD, of Ashland, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chain- Stitch Shoe-Sewing Machines, of which the following is a. specification.

This invention has relation to chainstitch-shoe-sewing machines and deals particularly with the looper mechanism and needleactuating. mechanism employed in that type of machines.

' The primary object of the present invention is to provide certain improvements in the looper mechanism for the urpose oflaying a loop of needle thread in the barb "of the needle in such manner'that it is substantiall locked therein, or prevented from being dislocated or dislodged from the needle. This is accomplished in the present instance by causing the delivery end of the looper to describe an orbit around the needle ofinore than 360, so that one bight of the loop will lie upon and lock the other bight of the loop as the needle is withdrawn through the work. Preferably the delivery end of the looper travels an arcute path of approximately 540?. That is. it completes a circle or orbit. and a half of another one. 1

Thus the thread laid around the needle, leaving the previous stitch. passes to the needle,

thence around the needle. and extends away,

therefrom in the same general direction to the delivery end of the looper. As the neodle-is withdraw, the loop forms a Blackwall hitch about the needle, and the end'of the 'loop which extends to the work lies upon and, locks the supply end.

The particular mechaniSimwhich I have illustrated as embodying the invention, con- I sists' of a looper which is rotatable about a fixed axis with an eccentric nose or delivery end, and power-transmitting mechanism by which it is rotated in one direction through an orbit of more than 360, and then, after the needle has drawn the loop into the work, is rotated reversely through an are equal to its first movement less 360, so as to bring it to its initial starting point ready for the next operation. It is evident thatthe particular mechanism, which-Ihave illustrated and described,"

may be varied, and a wide range of equiva' lents therefor employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Another object of the invention is to 'sim-* plify and reduce the'bulk'of the needleactuating mechanism. Instead of the com monly used cam-actuated lever for oscillatmg the needle, the present invention com prises an eccentric and eccentric-rod con-- nected at both ends by ballijoints. By reason of this construction, the eccentricsrod swings laterally with the needle-carrier when the latter is reciprocated from side to side to feed the work. In machines heretofore employed, the needle-oscillating member has* been incapable of lateral mot1on,necessitating a. sliding connection between it and the needle-carrier.

trated upon the accompanying and described in the following specification.

Of the drawings :-Figure" 1' elevation of a chain-stitch shoe-sewing ma chine embodying the features of the invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical secticn on the line 2+2 of Fig. 1, and indicated by an'arrowz- Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

various positions" Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive show of the gears which actuate the looper. Fig.

8 shows'a development of the face of the looper driving gear; Fig. 9 shows a devel is a froiit' 75 Other-features of construction are illus 'i drawings,

opment of the face of the driven gear. -Fig.

10 represents somewhat conventionally a me die with the biahts' of the loop-crossed toform a Blackwall hitch and lock the night which leads to the thread supply.

The same reference characters 'indicate'th same parts wherever they-occur.

As-shown in Fig. l, the machine comprises a head 10 adjustably mounted upon a cillatory type and suitably secured in a needle-carrier,16..mounted.upon.--a stud 17 pro-* jectingfrom an arm 18 formed on the feed?" ing carriage 19. The said carriage is held and adapted to reciprocate inlaterally-eutending guides 20 on the head 10, for the purpose of feeding the work step by step. The carriage is reciprocated'by a lever 21 pivoted upon a fixed stud 22 and having onv 30 is an eccentric mounted on the shaft 1 1-. Said eccentric is formed as the central zone of a sphere, having a convex face, and a suitable hub to increase its bearing on the shaft. A split eccentric strap 31 hav ing an arm or rod 32 is clamped in the usual way upon the eccentric. The inner face of the strap is concaved in conformity with the convex surface of the eccentric, thus providing a universal joint about which the rod 32 may swing. The forward end of the rod is provided with a split socket 33 and is connected by a ball-headed stud 34 to an arm 35 on the needle-carrier 16. The ball and socket 34 33, in'addition to providing means whereby the rod 82 may oscillate the needle-carrier, permit a lateral movement of the carrier relatively to the rod. It will be seen, from the foregoing description, that rotation of the eccentric 30 causes the eccentric-rod 32 to oscillate the needle-carrier, and that the needle-carrier may he reciprocated laterally by the cam 24, without in any way interfering with the action of the eccentric-rod. In order to prevent the eccentric-rod from rocking on an axis intersecting the centers of the eccentric 30 and stud. 34, a peripheral groove 36 is turned in the eccentric and dowel-pins 37 are set into opposite'sides of the strap 31 so as to project into the groove at right angles to said axis. Therpins 87 do not interfere with the rotation of the eccentric, but they maintainit in an upright position, (5% Figs. 2 and 3).

The looper mechanism is mounted in a bracket orarmdO at the front of the head 10. The loop-er, indicated at 41', is formed on or affixed to the lower end ofa hollow shaft or tube 42 rotatablym'ounted in a bearing formed in said bracket. Said shaft is slightly inclined from a vertical posi- 'tion, so that its axis may be tangential to the arc of the needle 15, and it is hollow for the purpose of allowing the thread 6 topass therethrough. The delivery end of the loopcr is provided with an eccentric hollow nose 43 which is adapted to encircle the needle. The looper, between the nose and the shaft or tube 42, is cut away so as to provide a free space for the point of the needle while the nose lays the thread about the barb of the needle. Suitable take-up and locking .mechanisms for the thread it are shown, but as they form no part of the invention, description is unnecessary.

A spiral gear 44 is affixed to the tube 42 and interineshes with a spiral gear 4-5 afi'ixed to a shaft 46 of which one end isjournaled in the bracket 40 and the other end in a bracket a7, located beneath the main shaft 14. The ratio of the gear 45 tothe gear is as two is to one. for a purpose hereinafter described. To the rear end of the shaft 46 is afiixed a mutilated spiral gear 48 which; inter-meshes with and is driven by a muti lat-ed spiral gear 50 affixed to the main shaft.

14. The gear 50 which rotates continuously with the shaft 1 is adapted to impart to.

the gear Q8 and consequently to the gear-4 5i an intermittent motion of which each cycle comprises a dwell, a rotation of predetermined extent in one direction, a second dwell and a partial counter rotation. To be specific, each forward rotation of the shaft: 46 and gears thereon covers 270 degrees of.

a revolution and each counter rotation covers ldegrees. This 15 converted by the gears 44 and 45, already described, into one and one-half revolutions of forward rota ti'on of the looper, and one-half revolution of counter rotation thereof. It will be un-' derstood, however, that the'inventionis not limited to the exact movements as described, but that the several gears may be rotated more or less in either direction to suit prevailing; conditions, without departing from the spirit of the invention. This action of.

the looper results as follows. The thread 18 carried by the nose or delivery end of the looper, from the end of the preceding loop,

around the needle, and thence beyond the needle away from the preceding loop. The

looper remains stationary as the needle with draws through the work, one bight of the thread of the loop on the needle lying across, and locking the other bight of 'the needle'to form what, in nautical knots, is termed a lllackwall hitch.

As soon as the loop has been withdrawn through the work, the delivery end or nose of the looper is revcrselymoved to bring it to its original starting point, ready to lay another loop upon the needle after the needle has again penetrated the work (and fed it, if a needle feed be employed,'as herein described).

By reference to Figs. 5,6, 7 and 9, it will be seen that the gear dais composed of four quadrants or segments a a and b I),

which are separated by slots'or groovesc 0 andd d. The segments on are composed'of simple spiral teeth, and' the segments hit are composed of square pyramid-shaped teeth arranged diagonally. Said diagonal teeth arethe result of cutting left-hand spiral teeth over right-hand spiral teeth, or vice versa. It will be seen, therefore, that the entire gear 48 is adapted to intermesh with a right-hand spiral driving gear, but that the segments 6 b are adapted-to intermesh with either right or. left-hand spiral teeth.

The gear 50 comprises a segment A of right-hand spiral teeth, a segment B of lefthand spiralteeth, a peripheral fin or flange C connecting said segments on one side and a similar fin D connecting them on the other side. The segment A is adapted to intermesh with any or all of the teeth of the gear 48, but the segment B is adapted to intermesh only with the segments 6' b of said gear. According to the formation shown the fin C is caused to enter either of the grooves c c inthe gear 48, and the fin D is caused to enter either of the grooves d d between the passage of the segments A and B, to hold said gear against undue rotation at predetermined times.

It will be observed that the gear 48 has the equivalent of twelve teeth around its pcriphery and that the segment A has nine teeth and the segmentB three teeth. Referring to Figs. 4, 5 and 7, it will. be seen that the gear 48 is locked by the presence of the fin G in. one of the grooves c. As the segment A enters into the teeth of the gear 48, the foremost tooth of said segment engages the nearesttooth of the segment a, while at the same time the nose of the next tooth of the segment A enters between the teeth of the segment 5. Continued rotation of the gear 50 causes the segment A to impart to the gear 48 forward rotation of 270 degrees, as indicated by the broken line at in Fig. 5. During this-period of rotation, the segment A engages a segment 6, a segment a,

and a segment I), in theorder named. As. the segment A leaves the gear 48, the fin D- enters one of the grooves (Z and so locks the gear 48 while the segment B approaches. (See Fig. 6). As the segment B enters, the foremost tooth thereof engages the nearest tooth of the segment a, and the nose of the next'tooth of the segment B enters between the teeth of the segment 22. The passage of the segment B imparts to the gear 48 a counter rotation of 90 degrees, as indicated by the broken line 3/ in Figs. 5 and 6, leaving said gear just 180 degrees in advance of its original position. The foregoing detailed description embraces one complete cycle of movements of the looper mechanism.

The mechanical motion, comprising the two gears 48 and 50, is set forth and claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 242,490, filed concurrently herewith, and is not specifically claimed herein.

. the axis of rotation, an eccentric strap co- -Having thus explainedithenature (it the invention, and described wayof constrnct-= ing and-using the same, although without attempting to set-forth ad of the forms' in which itmay' be made, or all of -the modes of its use, I declare that what I claim is w- 1. A shoe-sewing machine comprising a four-motion work-seeding memieergmeans --ror"i'rec1procat1ng said member to impart feeding movements thereto, and means for otherwise reciprocating said member to move the same to and 'fromthe work, the latter means comprising an eccentric having a spherical surface and a circular groove therein arranged in a plane transverse to acting with said eccentric and having universal joint connection with said feeding member, and a pivot member connecting said eccentric and strap, said pivot member. being arranged to traverse said groove, the

axis of said pivot member being at'right angles to a line intersecting said universal joint connection and the center of said eccentric. j -2. A shoe-sewing machine comprising a four-motion, work-feeding member, means for reciprocating said member to impart feeding movements thereto, and means for otherwise reciprocating said member to move the same to and fromthe work, the latter means comprising an eccentric having a spherical surface and a circular. groove therein arranged in a plane transverse to the aXis of rotation, an eccentric strap having a spherical socket coacting with said eccentric, ball and socket connection between said strap and said work-feeding member, and a pivot member connecting said eccentric and strap, said pivot member being arranged to traverse said groove, the axis of said pivot member being at right angles to a line intersecting the center of said ball and socket connection and the center of said eccentric.

3. A chain-stitch shoe-sewing machine comprising an axially movable oscillatory needle, ally, a member rigidly connected to said needle and having a spherical portion, a rotatory axially immovable member on an axis parallel to that of said needle, and having a spherical surface eccentric to its axis of rotation, a bodily movable connecting rod having a spherical socketfor each of said spherical members, an equatorial groove in the surface of said rotatory'memer, and diametrically opposite trunnions projecting from said rod into said groove on an axis transverse the center of said sockets.

to a line intersecting means for moving said needle axi-- nose, a fixed bearing for said looper, and means arranged to rotate said looper about its am's alternately in opposite direc'bions in testimony 'whereof I have affixed myto cause a thread-laying movement of-more signature, in presence 0:5 twowitnesses. than one rotation and less than two rota- I HARRIE A..BALLARD. tions, and a reverse movement to-the start- Witnesses: 1 5' ing position of said thread-laying move- WALTER P. Anew,

ment.- e CL-C- STEOHER. 

